Pianists in the Lion's Den
By Paul Schenly

(article from "Piano & Keyboard", Sep/Oct 1997)

It is wiser to follow one's day-dream to its natural conclusion. Its airiest fragments, as impalpable as they may be, will possess a value that lurks not in the most ponderous realities of any practical scheme.

—Nathaniel Hawthorne

There was once a pianist who was desperate for a job. He couldn't find one anywhere so, in his desperation, he went to the circus. The owner told him he didn't have a job for a pianist, but pointed to a bear costume in the corner of the room and said, "If you get in the bear costume and learn how to walk the tightrope, we could pay you $100 a month." The pianist needed the job, so he learned to walk the tightrope in costume.

The day of his debut finally arrived. The ringmaster told him, "Look, I've seen you practice, and you're good. But whatever you do, don't look down, because there is no net beneath you, and the lions are in the center of the ring." The pianist walked on the tightrope and was feeling confident. But halfway across, he couldn't resist looking down. Suddenly he felt dizzy and fell off. He landed in the center of the ring, and the lions roared and started to claw him. The man shriveled up in his costume and thought, "God! This is the end." Just then the lion closest to him looked down, lifted up his mask and said, "Don't worry. We're all pianists, too."

The story continues ... in more down-to-earth terms.

Parent to teacher: Where does it lead? What is he going to do when he graduates? Will he get a job? What are all these pianists going to do? The question, "What is he going to do when he graduates?" expresses a parent's love, hope, and anxiety for the child's welfare. Nobody wants to see their child out in the cold. Many people think that since there are so few opportunities for solo careers, curricula should be tailored for more realistic musical careers such as those of teacher and orchestral musician.

Experience shows, nevertheless, that the most demanding education creates the most possibilities. The main reason to go to a conservatory is to gain knowledge. Perhaps the most important part of that knowledge is to acquire an awareness of what is best for the person, and what that person does best. This personal quest takes time. It may be that only near the end of the quest does the person realize what is best vocation-wise.

I believe that in the early years of study the student needs to be allowed to be idealistic. We become musicians because it captures our imaginations and presents us with an ideal way of expressing ourselves. We seek beauty, believe in it, and want to serve it with all our being. Teachers and administrators must remember to keep the incubator warm for genius, because if the considerations are only practical, nothing advances.

Aaron Copland said it eloquently. "Living for music means hitching one's wagon to an ideal—an ideal of tradition, of achievement, of greatness.... Certainly all historical perspective confirms the truth that man would not have attained the possible unless time and time again he had reached out for the impossible."

Telling the student what to do early in his or her career can be limiting. The career decision has to be the student's. And the student can only make an informed decision after years of study. By then, the student will know if he is injuring himself by straining for something outside his natural bent and ability.

In light of these views, you may well ask what is the aim of my teaching? The teaching itself can have no definite aim. I believe, simply, that teaching can show the best way for the student to attain whatever aims he himself has. It is a privilege both to teach and study music because it opens up a world of beauty. The labor of the pursuit rewards itself. The more you know, the more life there is to enjoy. The end of a melody is not its goal; the journey is actually the goal. In the same way, we work not only to produce, but to give value to time. An important goal of my teaching is to provide this kind of compass.

It is fashionable to remark that finding employment in music is difficult. I disagree. No profession comes with a guarantee. The world changes rapidly, and fields and opportunities also change. But music itself has proved enduring.

You can shake a tree in New York's Central Park, and four pianists will tumble out able to play the Prokofiev Third. But not everyone needs to live in New York! There are very limited opportunities for international solo careers (not for the faint-hearted), but other doors are open— teacher, conductor, collaborative pianist, scholar, theorist, arranger ... You don't even have to stick with classical music.

There is a talent for living as well as a talent for playing an instrument. Making your own connection between life and art, relating your art and sharing your love of music through whatever doors open— these are the abilities to acquire in the school of life. In this sense, the opportunities are endless.

In the midst of these opportunities, however, there are challenges. The arts are threatened more now than they have been in the recent past. Schools are dropping arts education and, as a result, young people are not exposed to classical music.

Teaching and sharing classical music has never been more important or relevant. We have a chance to educate, and to bring with this education the beauty and satisfaction that the arts have to offer. By doing so, society may improve itself—and we will have played a role in the process:

"What is he going to do?" Why, of course, he's going to play the piano!